


Rest and Rehabilitation

by feralfemby



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Genre: Canon Divergence, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Origin Story, Post-Game, i was literally twelve years old and i've barely touched it i swear, thank you for the music, this is the first fanfiction i ever wrote in my life, y'all are in for a treat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-08-24 07:10:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16635281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feralfemby/pseuds/feralfemby
Summary: After the battle where Link vanquishes Demise, Ghirahim makes his escape and begins his journey toward freedom and rehabilitation, pledging his new loyalties to Hylia herself. She shows mercy on him, but her hero is still suspicious, not to mention his own struggles grieving for his own pledged companion. Can the hero and Ghirahim coexist, heal from their past traumas, and grow together under Zelda's gentle guidance? Read to find out. Updates on Thursdays.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome! This is my first time posting on this ao3 account. My signature is leaving long rambling author's notes at the beginning of every chapter, even if they're completely irrelevant. I love, appreciate, and adore every one of you who reads this and supports me, especially through such things as reviews. That's all for now, please enjoy this skyward sword fanfiction i wrote when i was twelve.

Ghirahim felt as though he had been slapped in the face. He had, in a sense, but with a realization. He had served Demise for the entirety of his existence, and only now had he realized that Demise had never appreciated all of his efforts to help him, and had abused him throughout the entire time he had served him. And then, in spite of all of his work and time, his Master Demise had been vanquished by this human hero, the one called Link. It seemed quite a joke now.

"I shouldn't have underestimated him." Thought Ghirahim to himself. "And that blade he used when he fought me... What a powerful and beautiful blade that was. I wonder if the spirit in it is still with him." Ghirahim thought this while he was trying to materialize outside of that very same blade which was imprisoning him and his Master, Demise.  
He had been trying for days, to no avail. Finally, he tried something different. He stopped picturing the blade at the side of the Hero who wielded her, and this time thought of the statue of Hylia in what had been the Sealed Grounds. To Ghirahim's great surprise, he opened his eyes next to find himself on the surface. "Perhaps not the best place, in hindsight." he thought. 

He had materialized at a bad time, as the couple in front of him rendezvousing suggested. That hero, Link, and the girl who hosted Hylia's spirit, broke apart hastily, and Link tried to draw his sword but realized, to Ghirahim and Link's dismay, (more to Link's), that it wasn't there anymore.

"What are you doing here?!" The hero asked, half shouting and half terrified. He looked like he was ready to dash to the Sealed Temple, and Ghirahim instantly knew that was where his sword was. Zelda, he remembered that girl he had kidnapped was called, stepped forward with less fear. 

"Yes, Ghirahim, I believe you are due to answer that." She said calmly. Her calmness unnerved him. Was she really that confident in her power? Link in turn looked more ready than ever to sprint to the Sealed Temple, but his instincts were obviously telling him not to leave Zelda alone in his presence.

"I would advise that the Hero, who looks as spineless as he is sword-less, would calm down and see sense. I am pleased that at least one of you has the sense to not come within an inch of running from me." He nodded at Zelda. She looked irritated but did not speak. 

He continued. "If you are so concerned..." He drew his own sword and daggers from the air and threw them aside. "There. I am unarmed, like both of you. I doubt you trust me yet, but I am really here gain your trust."

Link looked more composed now. "And why would you want to do that? More pressingly, why would you think you could?"

"Not planning to join our side I hope." Zelda said. 

Ghirahim internally winced. This was not going well. He would need to try to appear more approachable. "Actually, such a thought had crossed my mind." 

Link looked outraged. "Why on earth would you want to do that?" He managed to keep his voice even. "I thought you were loyal to the Demon Lord." 

A flicker of something passed of Ghirahim's face. Anger? Pain? "I was..." He said slowly. "I have my reasons for wanting to join your side. One of them is that Demise is a total abusive dolt." Ghirahim was now visibly enraged and bitter. 

"Why should we trust you?" Zelda asked him politely but with no hint of weakness. 

Ghirahim took a deep breath to mentally prepare and said, "Because..." He bent down on his knees and clasped his hands. "I am in all sincerity begging you to let me join you. Demise has used me for a thousand years, and now that he has been vanquished, I've realized how horrible he was. But when he was vanquished I was also freed. Will you let me join you?" He looked at them with a valiant attempt at pleading eyes, but couldn't fully pull it off, because it was something he had never done before.  
Link and Zelda exchanged questioning looks woven with incredulity.

 _Is he alright?_ Link was mouthing. 

_No, I think he's not in his right mind._ Zelda mouthed back. 

_Should we be worried?_

_No. Should we trust him?_

_No!_

_I think we should, he's definitely sincere._

_You're right, Ghirahim would never do this otherwise._

They nodded at each other. 

"Alright..." Zelda said hesitantly. "We trust you."

Link then stepped forward. "And we'll let you put Demise behind you and serve good. You've humiliated yourself enough to make us believe you." 

"Get up." Zelda said, almost kindly. 

Ghirahim jumped up from the ground immediately. "You really are too kind. I thank you for your generosity." 

"You're welcome, I suppose. If you'll just excuse us for a moment, don't move..." Zelda held out her hand to tell him to stop and moved away, grabbing Link's arm. "What's wrong with him?" She hissed. "What do we do now?" 

"I don't know! He seems sincere, like we can trust him, but he's so out of character!" Link hissed back.  
They looked back at Ghirahim, who now looked as flamboyant as ever, stretching his arms above his head and tossing his hair. 

"I don't know. That looks like the Ghirahim we know. But... I don't know. Maybe he's misunderstood. It makes sense that he would want to leave Demise now. Maybe he genuinely wants to be a good guy now." 

"That does make sense. And he did literally beg us to trust him. He would never beg for something if he didn't want it desperately, we both know that." 

"I think we should give him a chance. I bet Demise was horrible to him. That's probably why he was so awful himself. Let's try to do what we can to help. Now that he's free of Demise, he could be reformed. Perhaps if we appreciate him and treat him like a human being, he'll turn out to be a really good person. I think he has a lot of potential."

Link looked doubtful. "I don't know. The thing is, he’s _not_ a human being. We could give him a chance, but I don't know how well this is going to work if it does at all. Anyway, what are we going to do with him?" 

"I don't know... I guess we bring him home and give him a place to stay for a whole for now... One of us has to watch him all the time though. And we need to take his weapons." 

"Okay, good plan." 

The two of them walked back to Ghirahim, who started as they came near him. "Alright, come with us." Zelda tried not to sound too imperious. Ghirahim followed her a little bit too closely for Link's taste.

Link picked up Ghirahim's sword and daggers and made sure they were out of his reach. "I'd keep a bit more distance than that if I were you." Link said dangerously, pushing his chest backwards so Ghirahim was well out of arm's reach of Zelda. 

"Honestly, I'm not going to kidnap her. Where would I even take her?" Ghirahim complained, but kept his distance. They took him to the Sealed Temple, where they had been sleeping for the last few days. Link hoped they wouldn't be there for long, but he doubted they would be moving any time soon. It was too painful to be this close to the Master Sword. He clutched Ghirahim's own blade tighter, wishing more than anything that it was his Fi.

 _May we meet again in another life._

Those had been her words, and he knew they would come to pass, but it was still so hard. He tried to avoid looking at it when they entered the Sealed Temple, but it was impossible.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> helloooooooo it's time for another chapter also yeah this is going to get really intense really quickly so like. strap in

Ghirahim walked in, led by Zelda and escorted by Link, and immediately his eyes shot to the place where the Master Sword rested. There it was, beautiful and shining, a blade of a quality to match himself. He stopped and stared at it, trying to communicate with the spirit of the blade he had clashed with several times but always been careful not to damage. He couldn't get through. It was like she wasn't there. 

She's asleep, He thought to himself. She must have gone into a slumber.

He felt regretful at that, he wished that he could have known her better before she went to sleep. 

Noticing where Ghirahim was staring, Link whipped in front of him and snarled. "Don't you dare go near her!" He spat, pressing Ghirahim's own sword to his neck. "You stay far away from that pedestal!" He was nearly foaming at the mouth and looked ready to tear Ghirahim apart with his own hands just for looking at the sword. "If you lay one finger or even _eye_ on that blade again, I will kill you. Do you understand? I will kill you." Ghirahim didn't put it past the boy to carry out the threat. He certainly looked as if he would do it right then and there. Link was within inches of his face, and the sword was pressed almost deeply enough to cut through his skin, but it didn't. 

Quailing, Ghirahim backed away from him but the blade stayed firmly pressed against his neck. Link smiled at his discomfort, removing the sword and letting him breathe again. 

He grabbed Ghirahim's hand and held it behind his back, tucking Ghirahim's sword into his own belt and using his other hand to keep his head turned firmly away from the sight of the sword in the pedestal. He lead them to the place they slept, a side chamber with soft green grass growing on the floor and a hole in the roof that allowed sunlight to come in. Link roughly forced Ghirahim to sit on the soft ground. Zelda grabbed his shoulder and he turned his head. 

"I hope I don't need to remind anyone to be civil." She glared at him the same way she'd glared at Groose when he'd been caught giving him a hard time. A combination of condescension, reproach, and irritation. 

"In fact, it already seems as though that hope has been dashed." She glared pointedly at Link. "Let go of him, Ghirahim's behaved perfectly today, and if I'm not mistaken or else downright deaf, you've been issuing death threats." Link lowered his eyes, letting Ghirahim sit up normally. 

"But Zelda, you don't understand, he was— he’s—"

"I understand perfectly." Her voice softened. "I know how you feel, but that's no excuse—" her voice was ironlike again. "—that's no excuse for holding a sword to the neck of and issuing death threats to someone—" her voice grew scathingly sharp, "—who we've agreed to trust."  
Ghirahim had taken a liking to Zelda. It was nice to be defended for a change. For the first time in his life as a matter of fact. 

Zelda turned to face him. "I'm sorry about this. You were horrible, I'll just say right now, and no one is denying that, but ‘were’ is past-tense. I believe you deserve to be given a chance, even if you did kidnap me." 

Ghirahim took this opportunity to speak for himself. "Yes, I'm genuinely sorry about that. I was obeying my Master, but I never have to do that again. I have no Master now." 

The word 'Master' sent Link into a rage again. In a second he had pounced on Ghirahim and flattened him to the ground. Tears stung his eyes, but he was too enraged to let them fall. He was hissing in Ghirahim's face, and Link had done more than anyone else ever had and actually made Ghirahim cry out in fear. He was trying to scramble back, but Link's weight prevented him from doing so. 

"Link!" Zelda shrieked, appalled. "Get off of him right now! What's wrong with you?!" She was trying to pry Link's hands from his shoulders. Ghirahim would normally have been able to through Link off instantly, but when he was blatantly honest to himself he was practically shaking in fear and had been pinned down before he even knew what was happening. 

With the help of Zelda, Ghirahim was just barely able to push Link off for half a second and leap free. He hovered in the air, as far out of Link's reach as he could be. With clear panic in his face and voice, he yelled down, "You stay away from me! I haven't done anything to you!" Then he looked a bit guilty. "At least, not today." He rose farther into the air as Link pulled out Ghirahim's sword and tried to kill him with his own weapon. "Look, I'm sorry, again, for everything I did to both of you!" He yelled, putting his hands out in front of him to shield himself and closed his eyes, turning his head away. "Please don't hurt me!" He half whimpered, half yelled. "I told you before, it was Demise who made me do those things! I would never have done them if my Master had not commanded me to do so! He's been terrible to me for hundreds of years, I hated serving him! I gave you my weapons to try to make you trust me, but now you threaten me with them! I'm so sorry for everything I've done to you both, I hope you can forgive me one day, but it looks like it won't be today." Sounding near tears, Ghirahim drifted out of the side chamber of the Sealed Temple. 

"Ghirahim, wait!" Zelda called after him. Link was still in a rage, but he had calmed down a very small amount. Zelda rounded on him. "How can you behave like this? You're acting like a monster! Get ahold of yourself right now, you need to get a grip." She turned on her heel and followed Ghirahim into the main part of the Sealed Temple. 

He was still hovering over her head, his head in his hands. "Ghirahim, I'm so sorry about how he's acting. Link isn't himself right now. He's just lost his companion. Please come down." He moved his hands away from his face and looked down at her sorrowfully. 

"I should be apologizing. I've done so many awful things." He turned his head away again.

"Ghirahim... Please, come down. You've already apologized enough, and it wasn't you doing all of those things." 

Looking at her doubtfully, Ghirahim lowered himself to the floor. Link ran out to them, leaving Ghirahim's blade behind. Ghirahim shrieked and shot into the air again. Link looked up at him, apologetic and embarrassed. "Look, Ghirahim... I'm sorry. I'm the one who's been horrible today. I should be begging YOUR forgiveness, not you mine. Come down now, I promise I won't hurt you."

Ghirahim looked doubtful, but slowly settled back to the ground. "Unless you give me a genuine reason to hurt you, I mean a real one, I will never harm you or threaten to again." Link held out his hand. Hesitantly, Ghirahim shook it.

"I would thank you to not rob me of any more dignity today." Ghirahim sighed. "This hasn't been my best day if I'm completely honest."

Link laughed. "You don't say? Alright, I'll try."


	3. Chapter 3

In spite of Link's earlier promise, it was difficult for anyone to sleep that night. Zelda was afraid for Ghirahim's safety and for Link's, because if Link went into a rage again, Ghirahim would have all the freedom to retaliate. In hospitality he had been given back one of his daggers, and he slept curled away from the rest of them, the dagger cradled in his grip. 

Link was worried for himself. He wasn't mentally stable at the moment. There was no telling what he might do. He had been given the duty of watching over Ghirahim for the first half of the night, but there was obviously no danger unless Link himself were to go into a rage again.

Ghirahim was pretending to be asleep, gripping his dagger as hard as he could and trying not to think he was being guarded by a murderer. A murderer with all of his weapons except this dagger. Instead he looked at the blade in the pedestal, hoping Link couldn't see him. He was still sure Link would make good on his death threats. 

The sword lay in the pedestal as it always had, elegant and noble, a truly magnificent blade. Turning his gaze away, Ghirahim once more tried to get comfortable under the watch of a murderer. His discomfort was prominent, as would be anyone's. After almost an hour of pretending to be asleep but not being very convincing, Zelda sat up and saved him. "Link, go to sleep, I'll take this watch." Link lay down without objection, sleeping deeply in moments. 

Zelda moved close to Ghirahim. "Sorry you had to be watched like that so long." She whispered. "I had to make sure he would be ready to sleep when I volunteered. Are you alright?" 

Ghirahim sat up and turned his head away. "Like I said earlier today, not my best day. But I'm free of Demise at least. " 

"What will you do now that you have no Master?" Zelda asked him gently, trying to keep Link from hearing the word 'Master'. She failed, for Link stirred and moaned in his sleep. 

"I don't know. Now that you trust me, I guess I'll serve the golden goddesses. Try to keep evil from the world instead of driving it in. " He still wouldn't look at her. He kept his gaze firmly on the Master Sword. Zelda followed his gaze. 

"Did you know her?" She asked, very softly. 

"Fi?" Ghirahim asked, making Link nearly jump out of his skin in his sleep. "Sorry!" Ghirahim whispered. "I did know her, but not well. I wish I had... Were they close?"  
Zelda paused, trying to find her words. "Yes." She whispered. "They had a bond that would withstand any opposition, whether it were time or circumstance. I'm not exaggerating in the slightest. After the time they spent together, it almost killed him when she-" she lowered her voice to an almost inaudible tone, "bid him farewell." Link tossed in his sleep, letting out a hideous moan. 

Ghirahim cringed. "He seems quite distraught." 

Zelda cringed as well. "A massive understatement. I'm sorry again that he behaved so savagely before. He's not right in his head just now. He's going through the same thing he would go through if he had been forced to kill his best friend. It can't be easy." 

Ghirahim looked away from the quivering mass that was Link, and focused once more on the Master Sword. Zelda touched his shoulder gently. "Did she mean anything to you?"  
Ghirahim flinched at the contact and turned his head. "No." He said unconvincingly. "I barely spent any time with her." 

"You can tell me." Zelda said reassuringly. 

Ghirahim sighed. "If you're as persistent as this, I know I won't have any peace all night if I don't tell you. So I will." He paused, his eyes distant. "She was beautiful, and perfectly balanced, a marvelous weapon to say the least. I was always careful not to damage her when we clashed. I admired her greatly, her beauty and her elegance charmed me, and the way she defiantly defended her-" he carefully lowered his voice and whispered in her ear-"Master-" and then back to the position and volume he had spoken in before- "in every situation, no matter what the odds, and not just because she had to but because she wanted to. He must have been very good to her." 

"I have no doubt that he was." Zelda's face softened. "You know, you can go see her. Link won't harm you." 

Ghirahim's face hardened. "I can see her perfectly well from here." Feeling bad for being rude, he added more gently, "Besides, it would feel like I was taking something that belonged to Link. I couldn't do it." Just then, Link started and looked about to wake, and Ghirahim hastily lay down and closed his eyes and Zelda averted her gaze. 

"Are you alright?" Zelda asked him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "More dreams?" 

Link nodded weakly and shut his eyes tightly. 

Zelda softened her voice and gave him a look of concern. "You were tossing and turning a lot. I think it would be better if you went outside for a walk. You really should go outside, take a walk, just get out of here for a while. I'll be fine, don't worry." Link looked at her gratefully and sprinted from the temple, leaving all of Ghirahim's weapons behind. As soon as he left, she turned back to Ghirahim. "I really think it would be a good thing for you to go close to her. It would be good for Link to as well, but he needs time alone first. You should go." Ghirahim saw no point in arguing. This girl was persistent. 

He shrugged and walked across the large main room of the Sealed Temple, and crouched next to the Master Sword. Zelda carefully watched the entrance, making sure that in the slim chance Link were to come back that Ghirahim would not be disturbed. Kneeling near the blade, he whispered, "Are you in too deep a sleep to hear me?" but of course there was no response. 

Feeling like he was defiling everything Link stood for, and doing as good as signing his own death warrant, Ghirahim stroked his hand down the blade. For a second, he thought it glowed very faintly at his touch, but the glow quickly faded away. 

"I wish I could have spent more time with you. I feel wrong doing this behind Link's back. I hope you don't mind. I just wanted to say, I'm sorry I hurt your Master. I never wanted to. When I seemed enraged at him, it was only my frustration at not being able to grant the wishes of my own Master. Link seems a much greater Master than Demise ever was though." Pausing, Ghirahim half smiled and said, "He's a wreck without you, you know." The blade glowed ever so faintly in response, and Ghirahim got the sense that even in her deep sleep, Fi could hear him well, and that he would see her respond in her own way if he looked closely enough. He wanted to stay with her longer, but it felt wrong at the same time. Eventually his apprehension gave in, and he left the sword as it had been and returned to where he had been 'sleeping'. A good thing too, because just then Link walked in. 

Zelda saw him and started. "Link, are you alright?" He looked calmer than he had been but shaken up. 

"I don't know. Zelda, please come with me, I need to talk to you." 

"Of course." She immediately went to his side and followed him out of the Sealed Temple, giving Ghirahim a look that said "Sorry, he needs me right now. I'll see you later." 

Link had been plagued by dreams of Fi, and it was as though he never got any rest. His eyes were deeply shadowed, and they eyes themselves had a wild, desperate look to them. As soon as the had left the temple, Link turned to Zelda. 

"I can't stop thinking about her." He burst out. "She keeps coming back to me. I can't live like this. I'm losing control of myself." 

Zelda nodded. "I think there's someone you can talk to about it though." 

Link looked at her dubiously. "Who would that be?" Half laughing, he said, "Ghirahim I suppose?" When she didn't answer he looked at her incredulously. "He's in no mood to talk to me, I'm sure. Don't think I haven't seen or heard you talking, and that place has windows too. I saw everything you did while I was out."  
Zelda bit her lip. "Please don't-" 

Link held out his hand. "I won't harass him about it..." He looked at her a little slyly. Then he muttered, "Much." Returning to normal, he looked at her and said, "You really think that this is a good idea? He's probably still afraid to sleep with me near him, and for good reason too."

Zelda winced. "Yes, I won't lie. But you should still talk, after you've spent a little bit of time alone with Fi." 

Zelda wanted to kick herself for saying the name as Link's face contorted into such a horrible expression of agony you would think he was about to collapse from pain.  
Then his expression eased, and he said, "Alright. I'll try. I'm ready." Setting his jaw determinedly, he let Zelda lead him back inside. 

Leaving his side with a nod, Zelda moved over to Ghirahim and nudged him in his curled position with her foot. He looked up at her and got up when he saw who it was, brushing himself off quickly as he saw Link, moving in a daze towards the sword in the pedestal. Without a word, Zelda hurriedly grabbed Ghirahim's arm and ushered him out the door. 

"Okay, look, sorry, but you're going to need to be alone with him for a bit. I'll give you your sword, okay? He'll come out in a little while, when he's ready, and by the way he saw and heard everything so if you were hoping he hadn't you're dead meat." Zelda said all of this without taking a breath and barring the door to the temple with her body.  
Ghirahim closed his eyes and held out his hand, signaling her to stop. "Hold on. What exactly did you just say?" 

Zelda closed her eyes, and, keeping them closed, said slowly, "You and Link are going to spend an unknown amount of time together alone in a room, and you are going to be armed but he won't be, and he's seen and heard everything we've talked about and done tonight. Just thought you needed a heads-up."

Ghirahim put a hand to his face, sighing. "Thanks for that. Knowing how much trouble I'm in makes everything better." He sat down on a grassy bank, his hand still pressed against his face. Stiffening as if with an awful thought, he parted his fingers slightly and said, "He heard everything you say?" 

Zelda looked down. "Yes, he heard about that too and he got this really sneaky look..." 

Ghirahim shuddered and sighed. "Perfect." 

He sat there for several moments, then removed his hand and sighed again.

"Let him in," He said darkly.


End file.
